


Hanging by a Moment

by Urby



Series: Azurrin Week [11]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Azurrin Week 2018, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 22:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15982133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urby/pseuds/Urby
Summary: The dragon-hearted princess attempts to keep the dragon with the heart of a human a secret. Azurrin week 2018, September 13th: Loyalty / Secrets





	Hanging by a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Meant to be a sequel to _When Our Eyes Met_ from earlier this week.

The dragon was so young and had been hurt in the fall, so instead of revealing him to anyone, Azura helped him find a cove to hide in. He was too weak to walk much, but he could swim in the lake for short periods of time, which helped alleviate his boredom. Azura had grown up competing with different swimmers in the kingdom, so it was easy to keep up with a weakened dragon. She would swim around him as he paddled about, and he would watch her. When he had tired himself out, he would wait on the bank for her to join him, and they would talk about anything that came to mind: their thoughts, their imaginations, the weather.

Speaking with the dragon quickly became Azura's favorite thing to do. At times, she wondered if he felt lonely, but the thought of him being taken away, of him leaving was too much for her to dwell on it. For now, he was her little secret.

* * *

With the king of Valla dead, the queen of Valla had a very important job: to look pretty for her husbands and mediate their disputes. More often than not, however, Arete's opinions were only briefly considered while Garon and Sumeragi jockeyed for their respective realms. Valla could only exist because of constant support from Hoshido and Nohr, after all, and its political power was garnered mostly through the royal line's _supposed_ power to defeat a legendary rage...a rage that seemed less and less real with each passing year.

Azura knew she was young and did not know everything that her mother went through, but she could tell that Arete strained to project grace and composure. The passing of her first husband made Valla especially vulnerable to territorial disputes from within and without, and having to rely on outside help put her under a lot of pressure from Nohrian and Hoshidan "requests" for resources. Garon and Sumeragi made plenty of promises when Azura was within earshot, but she had suspicions that they were half-truths. Arete grew wearier every day.

Nobles and magicians that Azura knew in her childhood stopped visiting. There were better things to do than to spend time with the queen of a failing country. Between lessons and her adventures for solitude, Azura tried to spend time with her mother, because she knew that Arete had very little friends these days. Also because no one could manage to tame Azura's hair like Arete could.

"I cannot fathom how on earth you manage to live with this forest," Arete chided, passing the comb through a handful of Azura's hair. "You will be a woman soon, young selkie, and I am growing old! When I rest amongst the kelp you will have to find someone else to help you!"

Azura smiled into the mirror so that her mother could see it. "Then I will just have to twine the kelp between my hair and it will stay forever beautiful and tangled."

"Please try to keep it a little bit tidy, Azura," Arete chuckled. Her expression grew grave. "You will have to spend more time with the crown princes now, and not out gallivanting in whatever water you can find. They will be kings soon, and your husbands as well. It will do you well to get on their good sides."

Azura sighed. "I know, mother."

The comb passing through tangles was the only sound for a while.

"You do not have to befriend them," Arete said, her voice gentle but somber. "You do not have to be their favorite wife. But you must not let Valla be forgotten in favor of other matters."

Azura hated thinking about this sort of future, of navigating politics and egos far choppier than any stormy ocean. "I know I must, but...how can I? I'm not clever enough or strong enough. I need more time!"

It was Arete's turn to sigh. "You and I both," she mused darkly, moving on to another handful of hair. "Take what you have seen and learn what you can, little selkie. Consider if your time is better spent cultivating your future or playing out in the ocean."

Azura closed her eyes.

* * *

Corrin lifted his head as Azura approached. "Good afternoon," he said, tail wagging slowly behind him.

Azura didn't answer, dropping down to the little cove. She approached the water's edge and plopped down, hugging her knees to her chest.

She felt his eyes - wherever they were on his dark, almost featureless face - resting on her, and she knew she was being rude, not returning his greeting. But she needed some time let out her petulant energy before she could be honestly kind to him, and this was a safe way to do so.

"The water is very nice today," he offered, gazing out onto the lake beyond.

She sighed, lifting her head up. Then, she dusted her dress off and slipped into the water. Corrin followed soon after, treading water with his head up.

"I wish I wasn't the princess of Valla," Azura said.

"Why not? Valla is a beautiful and wonderful place, from what I hear you say."

"It is wonderful and beautiful and worth saving, and despite every effort on the part of my mother..." Azura pawed at the water in frustration. "Hoshido and Nohr are supposed to be our allies, part of a sacred pact, but they are taking away what makes Valla unique. Soon all we will be good for is a barrier between them so they don't war against each other."

"Do you think they would go to war?" Corrin asked, his voice carrying more gravity than curiosity.

"Listening to King Garon and King Sumeragi go on about it...perhaps. I can only hope that their sons will be easier to negotiate with."

"You will be negotiating with them, right?"

"More than that. I will be marrying Prince Ryoma and Prince Xander."

"Have you met them?" Corrin asked.

Azura floated on her back, suppressing a frown. "I have. But I do not love them. I hardly even know them beyond social niceties."

"Do you think it is possible for you to love them?"

"What does it matter? I would be nothing to them. Their responsibilities are to their countries first, not some patch of ocean filled with fools tearing themselves up in rebellion." She closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink, feeling the water cover her face and fill her ears. The Vallite blood in her veins was too strong to let herself drown, but it still felt like hiding, in a way.

The water insulated her body, kept her away from the outside world. Not even the motion of Corrin's legs reached her body. When she realized that, she wondered if he had gone back to the cove to rest, but when she opened her eyes, it was to a dragon curled in the water around her.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice clear. "It hurts, wanting to run away. Wanting to not be what you are."

"I wish things were simpler," Azura said.

"Me too."

"I think Valla is dying, and I cannot do a single thing about it," she said, knowing she could not cry underwater. "The royal family...my mother, cannot hold it together. If she cannot, what would I be able to do?"

Corrin's ears drooped in melancholy. "You must try, still," he said. "I will do everything in my power to help you."

"Then your debt will be repaid," she said, closing her eyes. "And you will no longer be beholden to me."

There was silence awhile. "I would help you because you are my friend," he said. "Because I want to help you. Because it is right."

"What if it is hopeless?"

"Then..." Corrin considered this for a while. "Then I hope you will trust me, because I will find someplace far away and keep you safe there."

Azura didn't know what to say to that, so she drifted in the water until the sunlight stopped streaking through the surface.

* * *

Azura should have known she could not keep Corrin a secret forever, but she did not expect another dragon to find him. Especially not the king of the dragons. She was swimming with Corrin, having forgotten her responsibilities enough to play with him, when a dragon far larger than any story had prepared her for landed in the shallows.

"My son," the dragon said, his voice too grand to project much emotion. "You abandoned us. The tribe awaits you."

Corrin barely moved, his limbs stiff. It had to be from tension, because he had recovered enough from his fall to be fluid in his movements again. Azura swam close to him, keeping her eyes on the dragon king. Corrin had said very little about his family or the dragon tribes, and she was beginning to suspect there may have been good reason for that.

"I did not abandon the tribe," Corrin said in a faint voice.

"You failed to lead the migration," said the king of dragons. "And then you gave us no sign of your whereabouts. I had to come find you."

Corrin's ears laid flat against his neck.

"He was hurt," Azura said, speaking with a voice made strong with years of singing. "He needed time to heal."

The king of dragons turned towards her, as if noticing her for the first time. "A Vallite? It has been years since I have seen your kind," he said. "I am Anankos, king of the Dragon tribes."

"I am Princess Azura of Valla, and --"

"Forgive me, but I must tend to my son," Anankos said, sweeping his tail through the water so that Azura and Corrin were seperated. "You will return and take your place at the head of the tribe. The migration must continue."

Azura tried to reach out for Corrin to offer him support. He turned towards her hand minutely, then faced the dragon before him. "Father, when I tried to lead the migration, I almost died."

"If you were in danger, you would have called for help."

Corrin's face twisted in frustration, and Azura saw teeth peek out of his smooth snout for the first time. "Would you have helped me, father? Or would you have refused, thinking me too weak to deserve it?"

Anankos stilled. The air grew a few degrees colder. An eye on the side of his face opened, staring blankly in Corrin's direction. Azura couldn't help but grimace - it seemed like the eye was a little too close to the center of his snout to look right.

Corrin was unfazed. "Am I your son, or am I just a vessel for your ambition?"

Another eye on Anankos' face opened, and then another, and another three, and more, until it hurt Azura to gaze upon him. _You will return,_ he rumbled, his words slow with rage.

"I will not go back!" Corrin shouted, conviction giving his words power. "I cannot be who you wish me to be. I am needed elsewhere!"

 **A whelp that defies me is no son of mine!** Anankos boomed, rearing onto his hind legs and spreading his wings. **As the lord of dragons, I banish you from air, land, and sea. Become dust!**

No matter how much Corrin had healed from his fall, there was no way he would be able to stand up to a dragon as powerful as the king. Azura tore across the water, putting herself between Corrin and Anankos.

There was no time to plead, no time to appeal to reason, no time to heed Corrin's warnings. Azura took in a breath and started to sing. Pain shot through her blood as the music flowed out of her. Her skin took on the colors of a too-bright sky and ran off her body like heavy rains.

"Azura, Azura! Don't --!"

She sang of waves that were grey and of loneliness and the dawn and the night and blood, she felt her blood running, running --

She did not know what she was singing anymore. All she could hear was her own heartbeat. It grew slower and slower...but stronger. No longer the heartbeat of a human, but one of a dragon.


End file.
